The space shuttle Endeavor flew past Berkeley Lab and the ALS on Friday, September 21, as it was moved from Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert to the Los Angeles International Airport. Hundreds gathered outside the ALS to watch as a NASA 747 carried the space shuttle at low altitude on its historic farewell journey. See more photos on the ALS Flickr photostream. (Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab.)

Tracking Living Cells as They Differentiate in Real Time

Using Infrared Beamline 1.4.3, Berkeley Lab and University of California researchers have developed a new technique for monitoring protein phosphorylation inside single living cells, enabling them to follow live cellular chemical changes without bias and without harming the cells.Read more...

Hematite is a promising electrode material for solar-powered water splitting - an important reqirement for producing hydrogen fuel with zero emissions. At Beamline 7.0.1, researchers have gained an in-depth understanding of hematite's electronic structure through soft x-ray spectroscopy performed in situ and operando. Read more...

Berkeley Lab senior materials scientist and UC Berkeley professor Rob Ritchie has been researching the fracture behavior of a wide array of materials for the past 40 years, the last ten of them using the facilities at the ALS. From human bone to synthetic engineering materials such as shape-memory metals and composites, Ritchie has illuminated groundbreaking cracking patterns and the underlying mechanistic processes using the x-ray synchrotron microtomography at ALS Beamline 8.3.2.Read the article.

Ring Leader: David Shuh

For the past decade, David Shuh has led one of the most in-demand beamlines at the ALS. In addition to his position as a Senior Scientist in Berkeley Lab's Chemical Sciences Division (CSD), Shuh is Project Leader at ALS Beamline 11.0.2 , the Molecular Environmental Sciences (MES) Beamline, a leading national resource in the field of soft x-ray synchrotron radiation research. Research at the MES Beamline has provided some of the first significant molecular-level understandings of important chemical and physical processes taking place at interfaces under real or more realistic conditions than ever before possible. Read the article.

The popular brochure, "Photon Science for Renewable Energy," has been updated for 2012 and can now be downloaded from the ALS's General Publications Web page. The updated brochure contains many new examples of energy-related research and four additional pages on the facilities and partnerships that maximize the benefits of our national investment in light-source energy research.

Volunteer for the Berkeley Lab Open House

As part of the Berkeley Lab Open House, to be held on Saturday, October 13, the ALS will again open its doors to more than 1500 visitors. To provide a smooth and enjoyable day for our guests, we need our enthusiastic users and staff to show off the great science and the wonderful people who make it all happen at the ALS. Volunteers are needed to welcome and provide a brief overview of the ALS as visitors ride the bus up the hill, to show people around the ring, or to talk to them about about their work at the ALS. If you're interested in volunteering your time, please fill out this short form. Contact ALS Communications with any questions.

Industry Group Learns About Light Source Opportunities

On Monday, September 24, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) hosted a meeting to introduce its members to the area's light sources and how they help advance innovation and promote economic competitiveness. The event was sponsored by Congresswomen Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo together with Berkeley Lab and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Read more about the meeting and the SVLG. (Photo courtesy of Matt Beardsley, SLAC.)

ESnet - It's Everywhere You Want Your Data To Be

Although it's defined by DOE as a national user facility just as the ALS is, the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) doesn't quite fit the image of a centrally located facility serving a specific set of users. Rather, ESnet is a nationwide network that provides high-bandwidth, reliable connectivity linking tens of thousands of scientists at more than 40 DOE laboratories and facilities. Read how the systems and services provided by ESnet staff advance research by helping scientists share their ideas, their data, and their discoveries with collaborators and peers around the world.

October 17-19, 2012; Berkeley Lab and University of California, Berkeley

UEC Corner

Building Strong Communication Between Users and the ALS

There are currently many possibilities for users to connect with the ALS: email, ALSNews, thewebsite,facebook, twitter. There are also options for users to provide the ALS with feedback: the "End of Run" survey is an example.

My question to users is: Are these modes of communication working for you? The Users' Executive Committee (UEC) and the ALS want to improve communication with ALS users. Get involved by using your favorite (currently available) mode of communication to let UEC members know how you prefer to receive information about the ALS or the beamlines you use.

The other side of the conversation comes from the user. Please share with us your ideas for improving how user perspectives are included in ALS decision making. If you prefer to discuss options in real time, consider attending the Town Hall Meeting with the UEC and ALS management at the User Meeting. To encourage open and lively discussion, this year's Town Hall Meeting will play host to several concurrent small group discussions with users, the UEC, and ALS management. I hope to see you there!

For the user runs from August 16 to September 16, 2012 (including the two weeks of 2-bunch user operations), the beam reliability [(time scheduled - time lost)/time scheduled)] was 95.6%. For this period, the mean time between failures (MTBF) was 31.3 hours, and the mean time to recovery (MTTR) was 94 minutes. There were no significant interruptions.